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Djibouti opens $590m world class mega port co-funded by China

Djibouti has opened its new 690 hectare mega port with world-class facilities and equipment manufactured by Chinese firm ZPMC.

The $590 million Doraleh Multipurpose Port project started in 2015 was jointly financed by Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority (DPFZA) and China Merchant Holding (CMHC) to connect Asia, Africa and Europe.

The port is one of four new ports in the Horn of Africa nation co-funded by China to establish Africa’s largest free-trade zone that can handle $7 billion of goods every year, a statement by the port authority said.

The bulk terminal of the Doraleh port can handle 2 million tonnes of cargo a year and offers space to store 100,000 tonnes of fertilizer, grains and warehouses for other goods, the statement added.

The break bulk terminal can also handle 6 million tonnes of cargo per year with 40,000 slots for vehicles at the RO-RO terminal.

“With this new world-class infrastructure, Djibouti confirms its position as a major trading hub for the continent. We are proud to show the world our capacity to deliver major infrastructure projects – some of the most technologically advanced on this continent,” Aboubaker Omar Hadi, chairman of the Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority (DPFZA) said at the opening ceremony on Wednesday attended by Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh and Somali President Mohammed Abdullahi.

Djibouti port is the main point of entry for goods from Asia, and also serves landlocked Ethiopia which recently opened the Chinese funded 752 kilometre-Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway that links to the port.